History

Prior to 1983-84, Maui College’s Computing Center provided support for instructional activities. Administrative computing consisted of a Courier CRT terminal and printer connected to the University of Hawaii IBM mainframe located on Oahu. Hence hardware and software acquisitions were aimed at improving the data communications with the University of Hawaii Computing Center at Manoa, as well as expanding instructional support capabilities at Maui College. The facility, which housed two CRT terminals and two Apple II microcomputers, was a small room on the third floor of the library; in 1983 it moved to the first floor.

Centralized Computing Systems

1980s. Emerging administrative needs and the granting of federal funds through Title III changed the Maui College Computing Center’s services. Now, both administrative and instructional activities share communications hardware, software and personnel, thereby minimizing expense and bureaucratic complications. In October 1983 the UHMC Computing Center acquired a DEC VAX 11/750 computing system with federal funds through Title III. This minicomputer was originally used for both administrative and instructional purposes until an instructional centralized computing system was acquired.

In October 1986, three years after the VAX 11/750’s arrival, a DEC MicroVAX II was acquired with institutional support funds. However, the VAX 11/750’s throughput was found to be better for administrative applications; hence the MicroVAX II was used for instruction and academic support. A second MicroVAX II was acquired in June 1988 for use in the Nursing/Learning Center facility. It was used for administrative word processing until the new building was completed and acquisition of other VAX systems permitted it to return to its intended use in instructional computing.

1990s. The VAX 11/750 was replaced by a VAX 4000/200 given to the campus in June 1991 by the Office of the Chancellor for the Community Colleges. It was used solely for administrative systems. In the middle of 1992 the MicroVAX II that had been acquired for the Nursing/Learning Center Facility became the student machine; it was replaced in 1995 by a DEC Alpha 2100.

The State of Hawaii contracted the Maui College Computing Center in 1990 to develop tools that could be used by information providers on the Hawaii State Information Gateway. A MicroVAX 3100 was acquired for the project. In May 1992 a VAX 4000/300 was acquired by pooling instruction and institutional support equipment replacement funds to accommodate the increased demand for centralized computng by faculty, staff and administrators. It replaced the original MicroVAX II. During the 1992-93 academic year, UHMC Computing Services developed the User Menu System to tie the VAX 4300, VAX 4200 and the MicroVAX 3100 together as a virtual machine from the users’ standpoint. Users accessed the VAX 4300 and were shunted to the other systems depending on which application they selected. This user interface also enabled immediate access from the user’s personal account to information resources throughout the State of Hawaii and our nation.

Data Communication

1980s. During Fall 1982 serial cables were pulled through existing (old and often broken) conduits to connect administrative offices via multiplexed leased lines to central computing systems at UH Manoa. The following summer, in anticipation of our own central computer, most buildings/offices were connected to the first floor of the Library via serial cabling.

A Gandalf Private Automatic Computer Exchange was installed in October in 1985 to allow for port sharing of existing equipment, as well as selection between Maui College computers and others in the university system. In April 1986 the VAX 11/750 was the first community college system to be connected to the Management Systems Office VAX network.

In August 1988 UHMC used funding from NTIA and microwave technology to connect outreach centers on the islands of Lanai and Molokai, and the remote area of Hana with the main campus in Kahului, implementing Hawaii’s first interactive full-motion video system, SkyBridge.

1990s. In Spring 1990, thicknet was run between Student Services and the Library, and all the thinnet networks on the lower campus (voctech facilities, ceramics, multipurpose building, Learning Center and faculty/staff offices) tied into the thicknet. By Spring 1991 the uppercampus facilities (science, social socience, foreign language, classroom hales and Library) were connected with thinnet; campuswide serial connectivity was replaced by Ethernet. During the 1990s several new facilities were constructed on the Kahului campus: Agriculture building, Ka Lama, Kupa’a, Laulima and Hookipa. These new buildings used Cat 5 or Cat 5e within the new facility and thicknet to connect to Computing Services in the library.

2000s. The Ka’a’ike Technology Center opened in 2001, and Computing Services moved their offices and equipment rooms from the Library. A new conduit system connecting each Kahului campus building by fiber with Ka`a`ike was completed March 2002. Each campus facility has 18 fiber pairs used for data communications connecting to a Cisco 6006 in Ka’a’ike 221. The Cisco 6006 was upgraded to a 6506-E in 2008.

Library Automation

1980s. In June 1986 a C. Itoh Enterprises minicomputer was installed. The library holdings were placed on the CIE 680, enabling students, faculty and staff to search the electronic catalog from any location on campus or even from home.

1990s. In 1991, all community colleges decided to utilize Hamilton Library’s CARL system for circulation and a comprehensive university-wide catalog of holdings. Maui College became a part of this system in Spring 1993.

2000s. In 2001 the University of Hawaii implemented the Hawaii Voyager On-Line Management System.

Microcomputer Classrooms and Labs

1980s. The first of three microcomputer classrooms was created during the summer of 1987 by pooling systems from Secretarial Science, Math/Science, Language Arts and the Office of Community Service. A second such classroom was created in January of 1988; it was outfitted with a network of 25 microcomputers with 286 processors. The microcomputers in the Computing Center Lab were networked at the same time. A year later, a fully equipped microcomputer lab became available to students when the new Learning Center opened its doors.

1990s. In the summer of 1990 outreach areas in Wailea, Molokai and Lanai were outfitted with small microcomputer labs, and 18 AT microcomputers were acquired to make the Business Lab fully functional. During this same summer, a third microcomputer classroom was created in the Student Center Building in room 132; 25 386SX systems were networked using Novell’s NetWare. These latter systems were upgraded to 486/66 systems in Fall 1994.

During Spring 1992 a network of 12 Macintosh Plus systems were added to the Microcomputer Lab at the Computing Center, and a network of 10 color Macintosh II si systems were added to The Learning Center. The Macintosh networks were gifts of the University of Hawaii Computing Center. The following summer all systems in the Computing Center Microcomputer Lab were upgraded to color 386SX systems, and a Hana outreach microcomputer lab was outfitted with six 286 microcomputer systems.

Further upgrades took place the following year when twelve 386 systems with color SVGA capabilities were acquired for the Molokai Learning Center, and 24 such systems replaced the Kahului campus TLC’s 286 EGA systems. Because many AT clones were replaced by these new systems, they in turn could be used to eliminate the remaining dual-floppy systems in faculty offices and at the Lanai Learning Center. Twenty-five of the 386 systems were also acquired for upgrading one of the Kahului campus microcomputer classrooms which still had dual-floppy PCs.

Buildings Ka Lama and Kupa`a, a State of Hawaii Capital Improvement Project, were completed in 1995. Ka Lama had four 486/75 multimedia microcomputer classrooms, one Pentium 75 multimedia classroom, a business lab and a secretarial office simulation lab, each with a variety of systems including 486/75 and Pentium 75 multimedia systems, Power Macintosh systems and CRT terminals. This facility replaced the business lab and two microcomputer classrooms housed in the vacated business instruction facility. Equipment for the four microcomputer classrooms in Kupa`a arrived in December of 1995 (2 rooms of 486/75 multimedia systems and a room of 25 Pentium 75 microcomputers, all running Windows 95). Early in 1996 Pentium 100s, with system drives partitioned 3 ways (NeXTSTEP Developer environment, Linux and Windows 95) were installed in the fourth microcomputer classroom in Kupa`a.

In January 1999 Laulima, a State of Hawaii Capital Improvement Project which houses UHMC’s Continuing Education & Training and University Center programs, was completed. Two 25-station microcomputer classrooms and one 15-station lab are populated with Pentium II 450Mhz systems, networked via 100Base-T. The following August the newly constructed Molokai Education Center opened its doors and a 24 student-station Pentium II microcomputer classroom.

2000s. In 2001 Ka’a’ike opened its doors. It had two SkyBridge classrooms, each with 20 student stations that included a Pentium III computer with a 17″ monitor. The same kind of computers were at each of 18 ECET Lab workstations; the ICS microcomputer classroom had 24 Pentium III student work stations, each with a 19″ monitor; and the Digital Media Lab had 24 student workstations with more RAM, special graphics cards and analog and digital input and output ports. The new food service facility, Pa’ina, opened in August 2004; it has one microcomputer classroom with 19 Celeron Computers. During the summer of 2009, the Molokai Education Center added 20 Core 2 Duo microcomputers to their SkyBridge teleconferencing classroom. In August 2009, the Allied Health Department retrofitted their largest nursing classroom with 40 Core 2 Duo computers to be used primarily for testing purposes, making it the largest such facility on the Kahului Campus.

Staff

1980s. In December 1988 the Computing Services hired a half-time programmer, the first position hired expressly for computing. Prior to this a member of the instructional faculty was given released time to develop and implement administrative and campuswide computing systems.

1990s. Two years later a halftime clerk-steno and fulltime Computer Specialist IV were hired to meet growing computing demands. In January of 1994 a half-time, temporary Computer Specialist I was hired to support the UH College of Business Administration’s MBA program and continued for its three-year duration. Faced with campus network expansion and the construction of two new buildings which house 11 microcomputer classrooms and/or computing labs a Computer Specialist I, emergency hire was added to the staff in 1995. That position was changed to a temporary position Electronics Technician I in 1998. Continuing Education & Training added a half-time Computer Specialist I in the same year.